Wine marketers discuss changes in sales strategies
about brix at harvest and talk about the things that touchyouremotions:dogs,peo- ple, stories. No one has ever walked into a wineshopandsaid, ‘Doyouhaveanywine fromcalcareous soils?’ And yet we feel the need to explainall this stuff topeople.” With the down time facing somewiner- ies,Wagner said, “Nowis the time tomake sure your staff is truly trained.” Bourcard Nesin, a research analyst at Rabobank and expert on the beverage in- dustry, discussed demographics and ob- served that some people are “aging out of wineconsumption.”There is alsoagreater diversity among consumers, he said.
He cited premiumization: “People are drinking less; they’re drinking better, and higher-priced brands are growing.” Nesin said some wineries have been slow to embrace e-commerce and to rec- ognize itsvalue.Onlineshoppinghasbeen spurred by aversion to shopping in stores due toconcerns about COVID-19.He said 57% of wineries have sold more wine di- rectly to consumers since tasting rooms were shut down. Hesaidsmallerwineriesare losingnear- ly half their revenues, while some of the
ByDennis Pollock Fiveauthoritiesonwinesales tookahard lookat theirbusinessandtheimpactsof the pandemic, economicsandwildfiresduring a virtual discussion as part of this year’s Agribusiness Management Conference presentedby Fresno StateUniversity. KevinSmith,whomanages thebusiness and marketing operations for the Fresno State Winery, moderated the discussion that focused on challenges that have in- cluded relying at times on virtual tastings and increasedoutreachover socialmedia. Most panelists pointed to an increase in the importance of direct-to-consum- er marketing. PaulWagner, aninstructorwiththeNapa Valley College Viticulture and Enology Department, emphasized the importance of cultivating personal relationships and foregoing talk of such esoteric matters as soilpropertiesthatmight influencethewine. “Don’t tell us how you make your wines,” saidWagner, who is also president emeritus of Balzac Communications and Marketing. “Tell us why you make your California firms pursue projects to slow wildfires California companies have earned grants to explore aspects of wildfire pre- vention and safety. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the grant s, among 29 proj ect s i t suppor ted nat ionwide through the Small Business Innovation Research Program. A company in Torrance, Intellisense Systems, will test small, automated fire weather observation sensors. The com- pany said the project’s overarching goal is “to provide a novel technology that facilitates detection and management of wildfires.” A R i v e r s i d e c omp a n y , I S C A Technologies, will produce synthetic in- sect pheromones to protect spruce and Douglas fir trees from beetles. The com- pany said its technology shows potential to prevent mass beetle attacks and pro- vide season-long protection of suscep- tible trees. KWJ Engineering, based in Newark, i s working on smal l , low-cos t gas sensor s intended to he lp protec t wildland firefighters. Two other California-based projects also received grants through the USDA program: Fortiphyte Inc. of Berkeley plans to develop a tomato variety with durable resistance to bacterial spot, and ISCA Technologies received a second grant to enhance production of synthet- ic insect pheromones for control of ag- ricultural pests.
wines. Talk about people, talk about life, talk about dreams. We need to communi- cate joy, safety, relaxation.” He saidsmallwineries, particularly reli- ant on on-premises sales, have beenmost impacted by declines in sales, adding that small vintners canpersonalizeonline tast- ings for customers. “Stop talking about tanks,”Wagner said. “Stop talking about barrels. Stop talking
See WINES, Page 16
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December 2, 2020 Ag Alert 3
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